Locutus
by Rose Vaughn
Summary: Rated for language. One shot. Set after Best of Both Worlds. Picard and the crew have defeated the Borg Queen. But she still haunts his nightmares...


Author's note: I don't own it!!!!!!  
  
LOCUTUS "Locutus..."  
  
Captain Jean-Luc Picard heard the awful voice speak to him. It was the one thing that struck fear into the deepest part of his soul. It was the seductive, alluring voice of the Borg Queen.  
  
"Locutus..."  
  
The voice spoke to him again, beckoning him to wake from his slumber. He refused, not wanting to see the repulsive face of the queen.  
  
"Locutus...Wake up Locutus..."  
  
"No," he thought to the Borg Queen. "Leave me alone. You have no power over me. I will not be controlled by you again."  
  
"Come to me, Locutus. Resistance is futile."  
  
He finally woke from his dream, unable to bear her hideous voice any longer. As he slowly gained full awareness, he found that he could not hear or feel the Enterprise's steady vibrations. Picard then realized that he was no longer in his quarters, this place was warmer, more humid, and lacking the comfort of his ship. The captain opened his eyes and was revolted by what he saw. He wasn't in his quarters on the Enterprise, but in a Borg regeneration alcove!  
  
"No." he whispered, stepping out of the alcove. "This...this can't be happening. How did I get here?" A flood of memories assaulted him. His capture by the Borg, and the way they used him to murder his own people. Dozens of ships destroyed, thousands of lives lost, all because of him.  
  
"No. I won't let it happen again. Not this time."  
  
Picard, once more, heard the voice of the queen. Not just from inside his mind, but all around him. She was laughing at him, beckoning him to join her. He could hear the whisper of the collective in the background of the laughter. As he listened to the sound, he thought he could pick out certain voices. Familiar voices.  
  
"What's the matter, Locutus? Confused? Don't quite know what's going on?" Picard turned around, and there she was. The Borg Queen walked toward him.  
  
When he spoke his voice was barely a whisper. "You! Why am I here? Where are my ship and my crew? What's going on here?"  
  
"So many questions. Why don't you let me explain it to you so you can understand it." Her tone was mocking as she spoke. "We have captured your ship and assimilated your crew. You are next."  
  
It took a moment for the information to sink in. "No, this isn't happening! I won't let it!"  
  
The queen cackled. "You can't stop it. It has already happened. You belong to me, now."  
  
"NO!!" Picard turned and ran. He ran as fast as he could and turned the corner. What he saw there made him stop dead in his tracks. For a few moments, he was unable to breathe or move. For what he saw blocking his path almost made him sick. Riker, and next to him was Worf, both Borg.  
  
"Will, Worf, oh God, what have they done to you?" He spun around and he saw Deanna, Beverly, and Geordi, all Borg. "No, no, no! This isn't happening! It can't be!" Then a thought struck him. "Data. They can't assimilate Data. I've got to find him."  
  
He turned and sped down the corridor looking in every spot he could until he finally found Data. But what he saw was the worst of all. There was Data, lying on the table, and on the floor, and in the corner. A hand here a foot there, his torso scattered all over the place, and his head completely taken apart!  
  
The queen walked up behind Picard. "Now do you understand? You never had a chance against us. The Borg are perfection. You are not. But you will be soon enough, though." She started laughing as the drones surrounded him.  
  
The crew, his crew, his friends and family, the very people who had risked everything to save him from this horrific fate, were now condemming him to it.  
  
He looked at the mutilated faces of his crew. He saw Commander Jaxon from Astrometrics, Lieutenant Howards from Engineering, Ensign Morann from Security, Will, Worf, Geordi, Beverly, Deanna, all of them. But what made it worse was that he could hear them. Not the voice of the collective, but the individual voices of the crew, calling to him.  
  
"You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."  
  
The capitan started backing up and stopped when he felt the cold, hard surface of the wall behind him. Jean-Luc Picard, who now feared for his individuality, screamed, "NOOOOOO!!"  
  
Picard shot upright in his bed. At least he hoped it was his bed. "Computer, lights!"  
  
Immediately, the lights in his quarters on the Enterprise brightened. He was in his quarters, on his ship. "A dream, it was all a dream."  
  
Picard heard the intercom beep. "Riker to Picard."  
  
Somewhat hesitantly, he answered, "Picard here."  
  
"Sir, we will be arriving at Starbase 112 in fifteen minutes. Um...is everything all right, sir? You don't sound so well." Obviously Will could tell something was not right.  
  
"Yes, Number One, everything is fine. I'll be there in a few minutes. Picard out." He quickly closed the channel before Will could ask any more questions and went to the mirror to look at himself. His face and nightclothes were drenched in sweat from the dream. Picard went to the sink and washed his face, then changed into his uniform, and left his quarters for the Bridge. As he walked, he took in every sight as if it were the first time he had ever set foot on the ship. His ship. But as he entered the turbolift, he heard, in his mind, the laughter of the Borg Queen.  
  
"Locutus..." 


End file.
